—As the Father loves me, so I also love you.—

My dear children and all my brothers and sisters in Christ,

Every Sunday during the Holy Mass we are in heaven – where else would we want to be?

Isn’t it wonderful to be here with your family and friends, with all the people from our parish, some whom you know and others whom you do not know? That’s part of the miracle of today. It is the miracle of the Holy Eucharist you are about to receive.

Part of the miracle is that you will never be alone or unloved.

Look around you. Do you see everyone’s face, everyone that is smiling and happy. They are remembering their First Holy Communion. They are remembering their moms and dads and all the people that came to be with them on their special day. They are also remembering something that we all pray you never forget.

Never forget that you are not alone or unloved.

Jesus told us:

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,

You are not alone because Jesus chose you. You are not unloved because Jesus loves you. With all of His great love He chose you. It wasn’t an accident and it wasn’t a mistake. You are very important to Jesus and He loves you very much. He chose you because He knows you will be His disciples.

Jesus not only chose you, He made sure you would never be alone. Even if you were in a far away dessert or on a very high mountain, even if you were the only person on an island, you would never be alone.

You cannot be alone because Jesus will be part of you from this day forward. He will be part of you in a very special way, just like he is part of all the people around you, all the people who will receive Jesus with you today and from now on.

Remember when I said that the people around you are remembering their First Holy Communion? Remember that I said that you know some of them. You don’t know all of them do you?

The other miracle that happens today is that you will know all these people and many people you will never see or meet. How can you know people you will never see or meet? It happens because Jesus ties all of us together in His body and blood.

Jesus brings us together with people from all over the world. Rich people and poor people, happy and sad people, famous people and people you will never know about, even people you don’t like that much. Jesus brings us together when we all receive His body and blood. We all receive the same Jesus, the whole Jesus, 100%.

When you pray you should remember all those people. Even when you’re happy, remember that there are people who are sad. When you are sad they will remember and pray for you. Pray for those people you don’t like so much. Remember that you are with them, joined together in Jesus. Pray that God will watch over them and protect them. Pray that Jesus will take away the things we are mad or fighting about.

Remember, you are not alone. Jesus chose you, and loves you. He’s with you always. He and all His people are joined together in Holy Communion. Rich or poor, you have Jesus with you, anywhere, anytime you want.

Jesus’ gift to you will last forever. His gift will last forever because He told us it would, because He told us that He wants us to come in, to let Him feed us, to let Him serve us, and to let Him love us. All you have to say is ‘Yes – Amen.’

Every time you receive Holy Communion you will receive the best gift you could ever have. You and I will not always get what we want, but we will definitely get what we need. And what we need most of all is Jesus.

Receiving Jesus’ body and blood every Sunday during the Holy Mass is a moment in heaven – where else would we want to be?

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